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Da kishman


Posts: 308
Joined: Nov 2003
Last Visited: 17:31
10th Jan 2018
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 19.28hrs on Sun 4 Oct 09
Up MacDui via the Fiacaill ridge today. GCM patches visible as grey surrounded by fresh. Pinnacles in particular is surrounded by drifts of fresh snow, sphinx to a lesser extent; both obviously frozen solid. Cornicing along top of Braeriach's corries and the tops of some gullies beginning to drift in. Some drifting also on Cairn Gorm-MacDui plateau, in particular at top of snowy coire where boulders are buried already.

Jamie


Posts: 987
Joined: Jan 2002
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 20.40hrs on Sun 4 Oct 09
firefly Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ben Nevis seems to have missed the snow that has
> fallen on the mountains farther east and north,
> judging by the cameras this morning.



Not quite true, firefly. I heard from a friend that the [dusting of] snow on Ben Nevis this morning reached the half way lochain. Retreated swiftly uphill throughout the day though.

I was on An Socach, and enjoyed a grand stand view of some small accumulations on the 'back' of the Northern Cairngorms (Beinn Bhrotain etc).

Scomuir


Posts: 300
Joined: Sep 2004
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 08.42hrs on Mon 5 Oct 09
View from An Sgarsoch yesterday mid afternoon - not too far away from An Socach Jamie!

[www.scomuir.com]

Attachments: ansgarsoch_041009_7.jpg (106kB)  
Chionophile


Posts: 692
Joined: Jan 2009
Last Visited: 22:07
24th Jan 2016
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 19.35hrs on Tue 6 Oct 09
Today after a mild night the Cairngorms were snow-free except for drifts, so it was a good opportunity to see what remains. Visibility in the morning was excellent, and the drifts shone brilliantly white in the strong sunshine. whiter than old snow patches in summer because the snow particles on the surface are tiny and have not had time to convert into larger grains. From good vantage points in lower Deeside I could see the Cairngorms well. There were many drifts in the main snow-patch hollows facing south-east and east, and a few facing south and other directions. The Laird's Tablecloth on Beinn a' Bhuird was more like the Laird's Marquee, with a snow wreath about 400 m long and estimated 1-2 m deep. Deep cornices extended along almost the entire lengths of the plateau edge of Coire nan Clach and Coire na Ciche, and numerous narrower wreaths on Ben Avon down to 950 m altitude.
On Sunday, Da kisman reported of Garbh Choire Mor that the old snow was grey, with the fresh snow in drifts around it. I've often seen this with fresh snowfalls in autumn. at GCM and elsewhere. If the surface of the old snow freezes to become icy and slippery. fresh snow blows off it with even light eddies, and some fresh snow slides off it. The result is that the old snow carries very little of the fresh snow on the main surface, except around the edge. Nonetheless the new snow tends to fill up any bergschrunds and air gaps around the old snow, as well as cracks in the snow surface. Hence quite small snowfalls can have a big effect in reducing air circulating around or under the old snow, by sealing off the gaps. H11lly's photo south from Cairn Gorm showed long drifts at the main sites for long-lying snow in Coire an Lochain Uaine of Cairn Toul, even though these have a northerly aspect. There is therefore a good chance now that the two old faithfuls in GCM will survive till lasting winter snow.
Although fresh snow on the northern Cairngorms lay to 2900 ft two mornings running as noted by Seumas Grannd, and at Ben Wyvis down to 650 m as viewed by John Pottie, I saw no drifts today below 950 m, and no large deep ones below 1050 m.


coaster


Posts: 222
Joined: Aug 2007
Last Visited: 23:14
16th Jan 2017
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 13.36hrs on Wed 7 Oct 09
Point 5 patch looks much the same as it did a week ago.The cooler weather helping things along.

The large patch at the top of Ob gully will be under a light covering of snow at the moment.

I see the Aonach Mor summit AWS is still down-a pity....

David Hosking


Posts: 35
Joined: Apr 2003
Last Visited: 11:13
29th Jun 2010
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 16.14hrs on Wed 7 Oct 09
Aonach Mor Summit Aws seems to be back up and running from this afternoon.
Slight disting of white stuff on the Ben above about 1000m

firefly


Posts: 2149
Joined: May 2006
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 16.16hrs on Wed 7 Oct 09
Photograph here from Alan Halewood showing Observatory Gully from below. Difficult to interpret because of the funny angle, but seems that little has changed since the 1st October. I would expect the snow to be a good bit firmer than it was a couple of weeks ago because of the low temperatures of late.

firefly


Posts: 2149
Joined: May 2006
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 16.36hrs on Thu 8 Oct 09
The redoubtable Alan Halewood has again furnished me with wonderful pictures of Ben Nevis's remaining snows, taken today.

The main Observatory Gully patch has split in two, with the larger (upper) patch looking to be an easy 2-3m deep in the middle, maybe a little more. Even the lower patch, though now separated from the main one, looks to be doing OK.



Full size picture of Observatory Gully here: [www.flickr.com]

Gardyloo's snow looks to have gone. I've studied the larger-scale photograph and I can't see it: [www.flickr.com]

Point 5 Gully snow looks to be almost unchanged since the 1st October. A little loss, but materially insignificant. [www.flickr.com] It won't take long to melt this if we get another mild spell, but at least it'll be firmer now than a week ago, and every week that elapses increases its survival prospects.

A dance to Chione is in order!

HTH


Posts: 3210
Joined: Nov 2005
Last Visited: 11:13
20th Feb 2018
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 16.51hrs on Thu 8 Oct 09

Does that make it likely that there will be a total of 3 survivors this year? - this on the Ben, and 2 in the Cairngorms.

coaster


Posts: 222
Joined: Aug 2007
Last Visited: 23:14
16th Jan 2017
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 17.32hrs on Thu 8 Oct 09
HTH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> > Does that make it likely that there will be a
> total of 3 survivors this year? - this on the Ben,
> and 2 in the Cairngorms.


There is also 1 patch on Aonach Beag.

Excellent pic showing this patch to be a fair size as we approach the final count for another season.

Da kishman


Posts: 308
Joined: Nov 2003
Last Visited: 17:31
10th Jan 2018
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 17.34hrs on Thu 8 Oct 09
I'm pretty sure I can see a patch in gardyloo! Very hard to describe where, and I don't know how to do that 'circling with a computerised pen' thing, but there looks to be a patch that is very basally eroded? You planning a trip west Firefly? Would be great to try and get up Gardyloo.....!

firefly


Posts: 2149
Joined: May 2006
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 17.44hrs on Thu 8 Oct 09
Da kishman, I've looked hard and I can't see it. If you open the attached file I've circled where the snow was. Open the large file (click on my earlier post) and see if you can see it. I'm sure it's gone.

Attachments: Gardyloo 1.JPG (49kB)  
cremrow


Posts: 74
Joined: Aug 2006
Last Visited: 07:58
20th Aug 2015
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 18.43hrs on Thu 8 Oct 09
First snow this winter visible this morning on A chailleach from Newtonmore

alan


Posts: 10768
Joined: Nov 1994
Last Visited: 17:02
27th Mar 2024
What's this?What's this?What's this?
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 13.01hrs on Fri 9 Oct 09
With some fresh lying in the Ptarmigan Bowl on CairnGorm and the SSC Hut reporting gusts to almost 60mph, there must be some reasonable drifting on the tops.

Da kishman


Posts: 308
Joined: Nov 2003
Last Visited: 17:31
10th Jan 2018
Re: Attention all walkers! 2009 snow-patch season
Date Posted: 17.57hrs on Fri 9 Oct 09
Aye, yer richt enough Firefly ma loon, there's nae sna'! My mistook!

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